What can be done when both parents are in declining health, and do not want to leave their house?
If power of attorney has not been prepared, a guardianship is something to consider. A guardianship is where an attorney will go to court, and have the parents declared incompetent. However, this can be considered by the parents to be a slap on their face. And in this case, the court may not impose a guardianship due to the fact that the parents likely have enough mental capacity to understand the decisions they are making and the risks they are taking. And so, in my opinion, a guardianship is a poor solution.
Even with power of attorney, children may not be in a position to enforce their decision to move the parents to an assisted living facility, due to the fact that the power of attorney can be revoked.
Another solution would be to try to talk to the parents, and convince them to move. But this may end up alienating the relationship between the children and the parents. The children may need to try to understand that the parents may not consider their advice in the same manner that they would consider advice from someone in the professional field. This is one situation where the care and management aspect is so appropriate, such as a care manager or social worker, because the parents do not want to leave their home although the children do not consider it a safe situation.
Care managers or social workers help to create a plan that can work to provide things such as a personal emergency response system that allows them to continue to live safely at home. This may be a solution that both parties can agree with.
